


Finding Your Center

by Sav_the_Ripper



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: AU, M/M, Soriku - Freeform, Yoga, meaningless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-30
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2018-03-04 08:00:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3020300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sav_the_Ripper/pseuds/Sav_the_Ripper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kairi talks Riku into joining her yoga class to help manage his stress. He didn’t expect to see his best friend from elementary school there. Or for him to be so insanely hot. // Soriku</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finding Your Center

**Author's Note:**

  * For [paoputrees](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=paoputrees).



> A/N: This is a (very, very, extremely late so sorry) Christmas gift to the wonderful paoputrees! Thanks for being an awesome friend and for the incredible picture you drew me! LOVE YOUU~  
> Also, this is kind of crap. I thought I knew where I was going with the plot (if you can call it that) but it turns out, I didn’t. It's too long and has no point. But here it is.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Riku groaned. "It's too hot in here."

He was uncomfortable, to say the least, in the tight-ish black pants and tank top Kairi had forced him into. Casting his sea-foam eyes around the room, he could find nothing but hippies in skin-tight clothing, unrolling their yoga mats and chatting amongst each other. The room was heated to what Kairi said was 98 degrees Fahrenheit, but as far as Riku was concerned, it was as hot as the fiery pits of hell. Apparently, it was detoxifying. She huffed, and fixed Riku with one of her familiar glares that dripped of condescendence and usually meant something along the lines of, “Bitch, please.”

“Riku, it’s really not that bad, so stop whining! You’ll get used to the heat.” He parted his lips with an indignant look to argue his case, but she cut him off, “Jesus, you sound like Axel when it’s raining.”

That being one of the worst insults he had ever been dealt, he quickly shut his mouth, which then settled into an almost blatant pout.

She smoothed out her pink yoga mat and lay on her back, humming contentedly as she did.

“Now _this_ ,” she gestured to her position, “is _Savasana_ , the Corpse Pose. You can do this while we wait for the instructor- who’s a total hottie, by the way. When he comes in, you just follow the instructions, and be sure to breathe." And with that, she closed her eyes, successfully shutting out a very sullen Riku.

Begrudgingly, he rolled out his borrowed mat and sat down, surveying the rather spacious room with suspicion. He wasn’t quite sure why he felt suspicious. Maybe it was the fact that all of the walls were mirrored, and it felt like everyone was looking at him. Or maybe it really was because he was “anti-social with emotional issues,” as Kairi and Xion constantly insisted. And, of course, that was why he had agreed to this in the first place. According to Grand Swami Kairi, yoga is all about grounding yourself and letting go and all that other spiritual jargon. He supposed he should at least try to take it seriously. It couldn’t hurt.

Well, he hoped.

Riku lay down in shavasha-whatever-Kairi-said and closed his eyes with a sigh of utter defeat. It was decided. He was going to give this a shot and become a guru. Pack a few pairs of yoga pants and move to the hills of Tibet, become a raw vegan, gain a cult following, and have 12 kids with names like Sunshine Flowerbud and Honey Moonchild. You never know. Allowing his mind to trail off to random roads that he normally didn’t allow himself to explore, such as how old the lasagna in his fridge was, and what kind of underwear Leon wore underneath his leather pants, he found himself comfortable and relaxed. Hell, he could even fall asleep like this. After all, they do say that lying on your back is good for you and all—

“Holy crap! Riku?! Is that you?”

Riku jolted, his eyes snapping open to find the most ridiculously blue ones he’d ever seen just a few inches from his face.

 

Those eyes were very, very familiar.

 

“Sora?” 

“There’s no mistaking your silver hair. I can’t believe it!”

He was kneeling in front of Riku’s mat, leaning forward so that his face was hovering above the other boy’s. His crazy brown hair was still trying to defy gravity in spite of the angle at which he was holding himself. There was a sparkling grin on his face and fondness in his eyes. _Holy damn, were they always that blue?_ If Riku had been able to look anywhere that wasn't five hundred feet deep in the unfathomable ocean-mass in front of him, he'd notice some of the other practitioners peeking at them, some disgruntled and others curious. Kairi, too, had one of her purplish eyes open and blinking up at them.

Sora had been Riku’s best friend from the time they were in preschool up until 5th grade, when Riku had moved away. His memories weren’t exactly clear as day, but he remembered enough. He remembered how close they were, how much fun they had. Heck, the last time he visited his mom, he even saw pictures of them together and vaguely recalled himself wondering where Sora had ended up and why they hadn’t stayed in touch.

He wasn’t expecting Sora to have ended up practically on top of him in a hot yoga studio.

Riku sat up and Sora moved back with him, grin unmoving, and as Riku stared longer and harder at the ( _admittedly gorgeous_ ) face of his estranged friend, he found his own face mirroring the grin. There was so much he wanted to ask. How was he? How had middle and high school gone for him? Was he seeing anyone? Riku shook the last thought from his mind, trying and failing to not feel the flush of embarrassment creeping up his neck. Better not ruin a possibly rekindled friendship with ulterior motives.

Before he could manage anything though, Sora spoke up, scratching at the back of his head with a sheepish expression, “Let’s catch up afterwards, ‘kay? I should probably get class started. Heh.”

So…Sora was the hottie instructor Kairi spoke of? Riku had to hand it to her, and although she was right, Riku couldn’t help but feel very bemused at the turn of circumstance. Sora had been a very hyperactive and somewhat rowdy child, and to imagine him as some zen yogi was difficult for Riku to wrap his head around. He swallowed his surprise and allowed his gaze to follow Sora to the front, where he turned himself to face the room with clasped hands and an eager smile.

“Alright, people! We’re going to start out at the top of our mats in _tadasana,_ or Mountain Pose. I want you to close your eyes and take three deep breaths.” Riku kept his eyes open just to see Sora with his closed. “Now I want you to find your center and think about your intention for today’s practice, and think about all the people that you’re grateful for. And I mean _all_ of them. Not just the ones you like.” There was a collective chuckle throughout the room.  

Taking the deep breaths along with the rest of the class, Riku couldn’t help but glance around and see the reactions to the soothing, but certainly odd words of their instructor. “We’re going to be moving through our _chakras_ today, opening and balancing our energy. We’ll start with the Root Chakra.” Okay, so Riku was definitely weirded out by this point. _What the hell were chakras anyway?_ They sort of sounded like those weird, spiky, display weapons that Axel had hanging on his living room wall. But he decided it was worth it when Sora stretched his arms over his head and flashed the room a strip of his gloriously tan and chiseled abs. He tried not to stare. He really did.

As promised, Sora had them all work their way through their _chakras_ , which Riku found out were energy points and that there were seven of them. He learned that they were located up the spine and were apparently directly correlated with various organs in the body. He decided that he would suspend his disbelief, for Sora and Kairi’s sake, at least until he left the room. The class was about an hour and a half, and in that time, Riku also learned that Downward Dog was a great way to relieve stress on his back, and that Sora’s butt looked really, _really_ good in yoga pants.

When Sora called for the class to lay flat on their backs in Corpse Pose, a position of total relaxation, Riku couldn’t have been happier. He was drenched in sweat and his body felt extremely well-worked. He would admit, he hadn’t thought that yoga would be quite so invigorating. It was a full-body workout, yet the quick, flowing pace of the class put his mind in a state of blissful focus. After the first few sun salutations, he had picked up on the sequence and moved through it with relative ease for a beginner. When Sora threw in random poses, Riku was quick to glance over to Kairi and mimic her change in posture. Some of them, however, were quite difficult, requiring Riku to crouch down like a frog and then attempt to balance his body’s weight on his bent arms and planted palms. This one was called Crow Pose, and the only reason Riku was able to hold it for as long as he could was sheer pride, completely disregarding the “leave the Ego outside” mindset that Sora had urged his students to comply with.

Riku thought about Sora some more as he continued to relax on his mat, the only sounds in the room being the deep breathing of its inhabitants and the low-volumed, ambient music playing through the speakers. He thought about the way Sora’s tongue rolled over the complex Sanskrit words of the ancient postures, the manner in which he assisted his students through the more difficult sequences, the smile that was constantly on his face as he guided the class. It was obvious that he enjoyed what he did immensely. And to be honest, Riku did too. So much that he was sure he would want to try this again. His train of thought began to involve taking more of Sora’s classes, in particular, and he bit back a grin at the chance of spending more time with him, having Sora give Riku pointers, of getting lunch after class….

He tried to shake himself out of his reverie, reminding himself that Sora was a _friend_ , and a childhood friend at that. People could grow apart. Just because they got along as kids, didn’t necessarily mean that they would be still be compatible as adults. It already seemed as though they had many differences in character. Sora was a yoga instructor, Riku worked in a boring business office setting, while finishing up his degree in fine arts. Sora was patient and friendly (at least with his students), whereas Riku struggled to not honk at pedestrians who took too long to cross the street when he wanted to make a right turn. Sora carried the grin on his face as if it were as natural as breathing, while Riku was notorious for his scowl, which Kairi liked to call his “Resting Bitch Face.” The point was, Riku didn’t want to get his hopes up for anything beyond friendship with Sora, since it seemed that even friendship _might_ be pushing it.

“Please tell me you didn’t fall asleep.”

Riku was always a bit surprised at how Kairi’s sweet voice could sound so very sardonic. He sighed, deciding not to contemplate the matter, and rolled over onto his side, pushing himself up on his arms slowly. It felt like he had rested for hours! He was definitely going to give this yoga thing another go. He blinked twice, taking in the room around him. Everyone else, like him, looked rather worse for wear, wearily stretching and not bothering to adjust their clothes or fix their hair. Nearly all of the faces he could see shared a peaceful and contented smile, and he realized with a start that he was smiling as well, slight as it was.

“Sooo…? What did you think? Wasn’t too bad, was it?” Kairi leaned over to punch him in his arm, and looked up at him hopefully.

“As much as it hurts me inside to have to admit this out loud, you were right, Kai.” Riku smirked as he returned the punch, exerting far less pressure than she did. “It was pretty great.”

“Told ya so! And, by the way, what’s up with you and Sora? You two know each other?” The curiosity was practically burning a hole through Riku. He looked towards the front of the room and caught Sora’s eye. The brunet grinned at him.

“I’ll fill you in later.”

They rolled up their mats and left the stifling studio, each heading to their respective locker rooms. After taking an inhumanly fast yet thorough shower, Riku wandered into the lobby, trying not to look like a puppy as he glanced around in the hope of spotting his old friend. He was nowhere to be found. He did, however, see Kairi chatting with a few folks from the class, and he didn’t particularly want to disrupt them. He figured he could ask the gal at the front desk, but he also didn’t want to seem desperate. It was times like these that Riku felt like an absolute dweeb.

Luckily for him, he was saved from his internalized dilemma when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He whirled around to see the shorter boy smiling up at him, looking genuinely happy to see him. Once again, Sora launched into dialogue before Riku could voice his surprise, spilling words from his mouth without allowing a spare breath between them.

 “There you are! How’s it been? I can’t even begin to tell you how surprised I was to see you lying down in my classroom. Wow! When did you get so tall and gorgeous?” His last words were teasing, but the damage had already been done.

Riku blushed.

He _blushed_ like a schoolgirl from an anime and stuttered over his words.

“W- um, I’m not, shit, I mean, I’m doing great! But I’m not gor- My height’s only above average! I mean—Yeah, I was surprised, and you’re gorgeous too and—Wait…”

_Seriously, Riku? You are such a loser._ He really wanted to punch himself in the face. And then hide under a rock for the rest of eternity.

Sora just laughed, lightly hitting Riku’s shoulder in a way that might have been flirtatious. Riku wasn’t going to jump to conclusions. Especially not after that epic screw-up.

“You know, we should really catch up. I really missed you when you moved.” Wow, Sora’s eyes were really big, and _really_ blue. They were shaped like giant horizontal teardrops, and framed by the longest, curliest eyelashes known to humanity. The smile playing on his lips was battling between friendly and coy, and there was color in his cheeks as well, a faint pink atop of the bronzed skin. Riku swallowed and it did absolutely nothing for his nerves.

“Yeah, I missed you too. We had a lotta fun back then, wreaking havoc on the beach.” Riku gave a small grin.

“Oh, tell me about it! We used to fasten branches and sticks together and make those weird sword things—What were they called?” Sora put a finger on his pointed chin, eyes swiveling upwards in an expression of thoughtfulness. Adorable thoughtfulness.

“Keyblades! Yeah, I remember that now. We would go around fighting each other and trying to steal each other’s hearts or something crazy like.” He shook his head with fond embarrassment and soaked in Sora’s laughter.

“That’s right! Hah. That’s actually kinda dark when you think about it. We were some messed up kids.”

“I’ll say.”

The two shared another companionable laugh, and as it died down, Sora moved a little closer.

“Hey, there’s this café just down the street, they have the best crepes, man. Like Nutella, strawberries, you name it. But I was thinking, if you’re not busy, we could head over there for a bit. Catch up, maybe.” His beam was bright and hopeful, and while Riku was not busy, he knew that if he was, he would have cancelled any plans to appease him in a heartbeat.

“Yeah! Yeah, that sounds great!” Riku tried not to sound too eager, but somewhere, deep down, he could tell that he had failed. “I’ll just let my friend know, and uh, yeah.”

Sora nodded, sunny grin still in place. Riku exchanged a few words with Kairi, swearing to her that he’d give her the full story later (and her threatening his livelihood if he didn’t), and he awkwardly shuffled out of the building next to Sora. They walked side by side towards the café Sora had spoken of, and quickly, Riku realized that any tension and nervousness he previously had, melted away, leaving behind an air of casual and open friendliness. A few times throughout the walk, Sora would lightly push on the friendly boundaries with a flirtatious comment, or a lingering nudge in Riku’s side. But somehow, it felt natural. Riku hated how sappy and romantic that sounded in his head, but it really did just feel _right_.

As their discussions continued, Riku found that his earlier thought about them not having much in common was proven very wrong. While they were both extremely different in personality and disposition, he recognized that their differences and their similarities were well-suited for each other. The differences provoked a balance between the two, and the similarities incited understanding. Their interactions were natural, yet stimulating; companionable, yet riveting. And with the amount of times one of their hands brushed against the others, or their feet met underneath the table, or their eyes locked for a few seconds too long, Riku could tell that it wasn’t exactly an accident, and that this would never be _just_ a friendship. But he would surely be lying if he claimed that the thought of pursuing anything beyond that disappointed him.

He smiled and recalled the words Sora had said at the beginning of class. Something about “finding your center” and “expressing gratitude.” He hadn’t thought much of it then, but now it seemed to make a bit more sense, even if only marginally. He felt more at peace now than he had in a very long time, and he couldn’t help but feel extremely grateful to whatever force out there that he and Sora had found each other.


End file.
